Too many add ons from the cable company? Sling TV feels your pain — and created a TV commercial about it.

The scrappy Sling TV isn’t going to let it slide that Comcast-owned NBCUniversal has blocked its new commercials poking fun at traditional pay-TV services.

Roger Lynch, Sling’s CEO, wrote publicly today that NBC blocked the ads from airing on its stations in San Diego, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. Lynch notes that these particular stations are owned and operated by NBC. Several other independent NBC stations that are not owned by Comcast continue to run the ads, as do some ABC, CBS and Fox stations.

“Here’s the irony. The refusal to air our campaign endorses the ads’ central truth: there are traditional pay-TV players that just don’t get it,” Lynch wrote. Read more…

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The two companies have been working on a new contract with Fox asking for triple the rates, according to a Dish press release.

“It’s like we’re about to close on a house and the realtor is trying to make us buy a new car as well,” said Warren Schlichting, DISH senior vice president of programming, in a statement. “Fox blacked out two of its news channels, using them as leverage to triple rates on sports and entertainment channels that are not in this contract.”

In its own statement reported by Variety, Fox News said “We care deeply about our viewers and hope that they will regain access to the number one cable news channel soon. We will continue to work around the clock to reach an agreement with Dish, as we have done with every other pay-TV provider for 18 years,” said Tim Carry, executive vice president of distribution for Fox News Channel. “This is the third time in as many months that Dish customers have suffered through a blackout due to Dish’s intransigence.”

Dish created a special website at DishStandsForYou.com, with CEO Joe Clayton apologizing to its customers and explaining the dispute.

Dish accused Fox of bringing in new channels “despite those channels not being included in the contract for renewal,” said the release. Dish said that Fox also rejected a short-term contract extension that would keep those channels on the air during negotiations.

The blackout comes two weeks after Dish customers lost CBS for several hours. Service came back the next morning with Dish agreeing to prevent consumers from skipping TV commercials during the first week a show airs. The AutoHop feature in Dish’s Hopper DVRs can completely skip commercials and has won consumer technology awards.

Dish Network customers lost CBS shows Friday evening as contract negotiations between the satellite TV service and major network hit a wall. Customers

The two companies have been negotiating for six months and CBS extended the deadline twice after the old contract expired on Nov. 20. The latest extension was supposed to end last night but CBS released a statement saying negotiations would continue that night.

On Friday, CBS pulled the plug around 5 p.m. MST. Dish customers in Denver, New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Sacramento, Dallas, Boston, Chicago, Pittsburgh and several other markets can no longer watch CBS shows, which will include Sunday football games.

“During this time, Dish has dragged its feet at our many attempts to negotiate in good faith. Behavior like this is why Dish has a long history of depriving customers of the programing they have paid for,” CBS said in a statement.

Dish, which has 14 million customers nationwide, would not say how many are in Denver. But the company did say this:

“We are disappointed that CBS has chosen to black out their local channels, but remain optimistic that the channels will return quickly as both sides are continuing to work tonight to finalize an agreement.”

At issue, according to CBS, is how much Dish should pay CBS for the content.

“What CBS seeks is appropriate compensation for the most-watched television network with the most popular content in the world, as well as terms that reflect the developing digital marketplace. We hope that we can reach an agreement very soon so we can all get back to the business of providing the best entertainment, news and sports to the Dish customers we both serve,” CBS said.

Dish customers who are desperate not to miss a minute of CBS might want to pick up an over-the-air antenna from the local electronics store. Best Buy has some starting at $10.

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Tamara Chuang covers personal technology and local tech news for The Denver Post. She previously spent 10 years doing the same thing for The Orange County Register before taking a hiatus to move here and become a SAHM to a precocious toddler.